For the first time to our knowledge, distribution
and content of individual folate forms in kefir
yeast strains were investigated. This was done using a
validated method based on reversed-phase high performance
liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence
and diode array (DAD) detection. Eight kefir yeast strains,
belonging to differentCandida and Saccharomycesspecies,
were isolated from Russian kefir granules. They were
grown in synthetic media at standardized conditions before
analysis. The average folate content for these yeast
strains was 10,780±550 µg/100 g dry matter. In all yeast
strains tested, the most abundant folate forms as percentages
were 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (43–59%), and 5-
formyltetrahydrofolate (23–38%), whereas tetrahydrafolate
occurred in a lesser proportion (19–23%).